Remarkable Scandal at the Hospital.

Auckland Star, Volume XI, Issue 3195, 12 June 1880, Page 2

Remarkable Scandal at the Hospital.

A very remarkable scandal and still more extraordinary denouement has arisen in connection with the Hospital, and the matter has reached that stago when wo think the facts should not be witheld from the public. Among tho rules of tho Hospital ono of the most important and stringent prohibits attendants from accepting gratuities of any kind from patients under their care. We are of opinion that tho very severest punishment should bo visited upon violators of this regulation, not only as a means of checking favouritism towards wealthy patients, and preventing terrorism to those who may fool unwilling to give tips, but also to preclude abuses with the effects of dead men who " toll no tales." It appcars,however,that W.Gadd, the night nurse, on tho Gth of May last, mado a formal charge to Dr. Philson against the head nurse, S. Brown, of having received tho money of tare, deceased patients aud failed to account for it as required by the regulations of the establishment. Tho sums referred to were: £2 2s from a man named Wilson, who died in the Hospital on the 28th of September last, .£l4 from a patient named Lettcral ou tho 18th of November, and 17s Gd from a patient named Maund, who died on tho 17 th of April of this year. Tho reason given by Gadd for finally laying formal charges against Drown is that Maund having died during 11 le time that he was in chargo. suspicion was cast upon himself through the disappearance of tho 17s Gd. That he thereupon made inquiries aud found that Brown hud received tho amount and given 7s (id of it to a wardsman named Gibbons, When Gadd questioned Brown ho denied all knowledge of it, and Gadd then told him ho would make a formal complaint to Dr. Philson forthwith. On tho following day when the doctor came to tho hospital, Gadd asked for an interview, which was granted. He thou charged Brown with taking the 17s Gd. Tho latter being callod in and questioned by Dr. Philson admitted receiving tho monoy, and said ho had given Gibbons 7s Gd of it bocauso lie had complained of being without tobacco, tho 10s he believed he had paid in, bm found ho had not done so. Ho produced the 10a from a drawer, and Dr. Philson ordered that it should bo booked. Gadd then preferred the two other charges of receiving £11 and a cheque for £5 10s from Lettoral and only accounting for tho cheque to the doctor. At iirbt Brown deuied it altogether, and thou when pressed upon having given £3 of tho money to a wardsman named Thomas Brown, he made contradictory statements on the subject. Finally Gadd charged him with receiving £'2 2s, the property of the patiout Wilson, giving 7s Gd of it to a wardsman named Temm, and only accounting for lis to the house surgeon among the effects of the deceased, thus leaving an odd amount of £1 3s Gd which had disappeared. This also Brown denied. Gadd wished to call in Temm to prove his statement. His request, however, was not complied with; but Brown having gone out returned and stated that Temm remembered Wilson giving him the two guineas. Dr. Philson asked Gadd why lie had not reported these matters before, aud the latter replied that he was afraid at the time that the evidenco was not strong enough and he brought one case to support another.

JNo witnesses being called at that time, nor further stops taken, so far as Gadd was aware, appears to have made him dissatisfied with the result of his interview and he went into town to take advice. There he saw Mr Ssvanson, M. 11.1t., who recommended him to go and see Mr. Thos. Macflarlane, Curator of Intestate Estates. He did so at once, and after giving Mr Macffarlane an outline of his case, that gentleman said he was too busy to deal with the matter then, but requested him to call the next morning at nine o'clock, when ho would take his statement. Tho same evening Gadd received information that Dr Philson desired to sec him at his house, and on going there Dr Philson questioned him further, and said he had seen Mr Macflarlane, and that gentleman had promised to coino to the Hospital next morning at nine o'clock and hold an inquiry with him. He further said that Brown had acknowledged receiving the money, and had restored part of it and would return the balanco on the following morning. He censured Gadd for not reporting the matter before, and the latter replied that he would havo dono so only ho feared that if unable to fully substantiate the charges tho consequences would be fatal to himself. Dr Philson also pressed Gadd on tho point whether ho had ever had a quarrel with Brown, and Gadd asserted in reply that he had never had a cross word with him during tho three years he had served in the Hospital. Dr. Philson then instructed Gadd to bo at the Hospital at the appointed time next day. The fact of Mr Macflarlano having, by a strange coincidence, soen Dr. Philson between the time when Gadd had complained to him and tho hour appointed for receiving a formal statement, struck Gadd, according to his own account, as suspicious, and he thought it advisable to go aud consult Mr Swanson before proceeding further. Tnstcad, therefore, of attending the inquiry on tho following morning, as he undoubtedly should have done, ho left a note for Mr Macffarlane, and one for Dr. Philson, to the effect that he could not go on with the case until ho had seen Mr Swanson again, but ho would go to Mr Ma.ffar_i.nc_ office as soon after as possible. Ho then went to M r Swanson and asked him to be present at the inquiry; but that gentleman said he had not time, and pointed out that Gadd had laid himself open to blame by not remaining at the Hospital as instructed. Gadd then went to Mr Macffarlane's office, and made his statement. On the 10th, Brown and Gadd were summoned into tho presence of Dr. Philson and Mr Macflarlano at the Hospital, and Dr. Philson road a review of the case, in which ho strongly censured Gadd for tho course he had pursued, and said he had laid himself under the suspicion that if he had only received a share of the plunder nothing moro would have been heard of the matter. With regard to Brown, his conduct had been highly reprehensible, but as he had acknowledged his offence and made restitution of the money. ho would leave it to Mr Macffarlane to say what should be done. Mr Macffarlane, who appears to havo considered that he had no official position there to conduct an inquiry, and was only present as a looker-on. expressed his opinion

that a very grave offenco had been committed, and that he did not know whether it was right to look over such a thing, but the offence having been acknowledged and restitution made, he hoped it would be a lesson for the future. This is an outline of the case so far as we can gat it by careful inquiry from both sides.

Subsequently, Dr Philson sent a report to the Government on tho subject, and paid over the £14 disgorged by Brown to Mr George, solicitor for tho legatees under Letteral's will. Gadd also wrote a letter to the Colonial Secretary, complaiuing that no proper investigation had been made into the charges he had brought, and that unwarrantable aspersions had been cast upon his character by the insinuation that he was instigated in tho course he had taken by disappointment at not participating in the plunder. He asked the Colonial Secretary to appoint some independent person to make a searching inquiry into tho affair. Tho most extraordinary part of the proceedings, however, is to come. Dr. Philson received a reply from the Colonial Secretary acknowledging his report, aud intimating that the Hon. Mr Dick was

of opinion that both men should be dismissed, but as Dr. Philson considered that Brown's offence might — restitution having been mado—be condoned, tho Colonial Secretary would sanction that course. With reference to Gadd, however, lie approved of his dismissal. The following letter was also addressed to Gadd :—

Colonial Secretary's Office, Wellington, Ist. June, ISSO. Sire, —I am directed by the Colonial Secretary to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 30th i nst., in which you request that an investigation may bo made into certain irregularities that have taken place iv the Auckland Hospital. 0 In reply, I am to inform you that an inquiry has already been held by Dr. Philson aud Mr Macffarlaue, J.P., and tho Steward, who was charged with the irregularity you refer to, a.kuowledged the truth of the charge, expressed his contrition, and made restitutiou. There is therefore nothing to investigate.

As to your own position in tho business, Mr Dick considers that whilst iv reporting the conduct of Brown to the Surgeon you acted in away that deserves commendation, it would have been much more so had you not delayed so long in making it. Your subsequent conduct, however, especially at the inquiry, was pueh as to lender it impossible to retain you iv your ollice, and Dr. Philson has been informed that your dismissal lias tho approval of the Government. —I am, Sc,

G. S. Cooimck.

The issue of the whole thing then is this : That whilst a man who, upon his own admission, lias been guilty of three glaring and most flagrant offences is retained in his situation, the other man who brought tho matter to light, ia summarily dismissed with

a stigma on his character for n comparatively trilling error of judgment in doing what is admitted by tho Under-Soc.ctary in tho Jotter of dismissal to havo boon an act that " deserves commendation ! " Wo do not hesitate to say that a decision more abominably unjust or moro calculated to smother acts of wrong-doing and encourage connivance at gross abuses is inconceivable. What, we may ask, will the moral influenco of Gadd's dismissal and Brown's unchecked prosperity be upon the other subordinates in tho hospital 'I Is it to bo supposed that, in the event of any other abuse arising, any man with such an example storing him in the face will be fool enough to risk his reputation and situation when ho can assure himself of perfect security by keeping his eyes conveniently closed? Though wo havo a very high respect for Dr. Philson as a .skilful .surgeon, thore can, it is to be feared, be no doubt that bis judgment has been warped in this instanco by a predilection—not, perhaps, unnatural — for a very old servant like Brown, in whom he had reposed too groat an amount of confidence. The case is ono of tlio.so which illustrate the importance of such institutions as the hospital being under the management of a vigilant committee. Tho matter, it is needless to say, cannot rest whore it is. The confession of three sorious laches within a few months is painfully suggestive of the possibility of many more, and is quito enough to warrant a searching inquiry into the whole internal working of the hospital. Gadd, wo understand, is resolved, in vindication of himself, to petition tho House of Representatives, and we arc sure that public opinion will back him up iv tho demand for a rigid and thoroughly impartial inquiry.